The present disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a machining fixture therefor and to methods of machining air foil tips.
Gas turbine engines, such as those that power modern commercial and military aircraft, generally include a compressor section to pressurize an airflow, a combustor section to burn a hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases.
The compressor section includes a case circumscribing an engine axis and axially alternating arrays of stationary vanes and rotatable blades. Each vane array may be constructed of multiple vane clusters distributed circumferentially about the interior of the case with each cluster being supported by the case. Some vane arrays include clusters of cantilevered vanes.
During engine operation, the vane clusters may be subject to non-uniform heating and cooling as well as movement to a running position. Such movement, as well as the potential for a non-perfectly round case complicates the initial machining of the vane arrays to provide a desired radial tip spacing with respect to the rotor assemblies.